Always and Forever
by Miranda Shadowind
Summary: REVISED! Runs parallel to the 'After the Fall' universe save one major detail: Locke was never found. 1 week after Kefka's defeat, Celes sets out on a quest to track down Locke, but can she find him in time?


Always and Forever  
Revised Edition  
Miranda Shadowind 

Author's Note: Looking back on this story, I couldn't help but notice that it seemed a bit, well, rushed. Particularly the beginning. So I filled it out a little and improved the wording here and there, all while keeping the main plot intact, and this is the end result. Enjoy and review!

"This is my good luck charm... When I found this, my life took a turn for the better... Locke... Promise me someday you'll look after me again!" -Celes(1)

"Are you sure you want to do this Celes? Goddess only knows where he is by now; the war aside he's been a wanderer for half his life!" Edgar pointed out as said ex-Imperial General finished packing up her few possessions. "Hell, for all we know he might be dead!"

"Locke's alive, Edgar, I just know it! I'm going to find him and that's final!" Celes stated firmly, looking a bit paler than usual as a result of the lost magic. It had been a part of her as far back as she could remember, but now it was gone. Not that she missed it too much, it just took some getting used to. She imagined that Terra was having a harder time though, given she'd been born half esper, half human.

The young king of Figaro would have doubted that first comment even more than he already did if not for the familiar dark blue bandana hanging from around Celes' neck. But that still didn't stop him from doubting the futility of this mission. Locke had already been quite the emotional wreck after Rachel's death, and Edgar feared that the supposed "loss" of his (Locke's) friends, particularly Celes, might have been the killing blow...

Celes however, was not going to just sit around and presume that her beloved treasure hunter was dead. If that was indeed true, she needed to see cold, hard proof before she would believe. This was because sometime after they'd first met, she had found herself falling in love with him.

Love... In the Empire she had been taught that it was one of several emotions that should be suppressed so as not to show weakness. But she was no longer a part of the Empire by choice, and had slowly begun to release those pent-up emotions and regain her humanity. Now she needed to find Locke and tell him how she felt, no matter what the outcome.

And it wasn't like Celes had anything or anyone to hold her back from making this journey either. She was homeless, unless you counted the past week since Kefka's defeat, which she had spent at Figaro Castle celebrating with her comrades. Vector, where she'd grown up, had been meshed with Kefka's Tower when the world's balance had been shattered. Now both were nothing but a gigantic pile of rubble.

Carefully untying the bandana, Celes stepped out onto the nearby balcony as Edgar took his leave. She held it close to her heart and gazed out into the night, beyond the stretch of sand that seemed to go on forever. Locke was out there, somewhere, and she would find him if it killed her.

Standing on the balcony like this reminded Celes all too much of her role back at the opera house. Though reluctant at first, she had gone along with Locke's plan and sung in Maria's place to fool Setzer. The same Setzer who'd scoffed at her when she nearly died while saving her prized bandana on the way out of Kefka's tower, then later offered to help her search.

Naturally she'd refused, but not just because of his earlier attitude. This was something she needed to do alone, without anyone's help. Celes knew that if she met up with Locke while accompanied by someone else (especially Setzer or Edgar), more than likely he would misinterpret her intentions and vanish once again. That was a mistake she could not afford to make.

The following morning, Celes said her final goodbyes to everyone, climbed onto her borrowed chocobo, and headed off into the wilderness, her destination unknown.

"50 GP says she comes back with a ring on her finger," Sabin whispered to his twin, a smirk upon his face.

Edgar shook his head, knowing that given Locke it wouldn't be THAT easy. But then again, that would put things in his favor in this bet. "You're on."

(A month later...)

"So here I am again..." Locke muttered to himself, watching the sun slowly sink into the ocean from his seat near the edge of a cliff. It wasn't the same sea cliff he'd nearly leapt off of several months ago after waking up in a ruined world(2), but it was close enough.

The situation was the same; he was back to Square One. '_All that hard work... and for what!_' he thought, pulling out a small pouch and fingering its contents. They consisted of a thousand or more red and green shards that had once been the magicite "Phoenix." That magicite had been the object of his search and the only thing that had kept him going because of its life-restoring properties.

But by the time Locke had found its hiding place deep within the Phoenix Cave, it had been too late. Kefka was destroyed, and with him magic and the Espers. All that were left of the mighty Phoenix when Locke had finished picking the lock on the chest were the shards he held here and now. Their power gone, there was no way left to revive Rachel.

How Kefka the would-be god had finally bit the big one, Locke wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that his old friends more than likely had a hand in it. He'd thought that they were all dead, but bits of news he had picked up in his travels had given him subtle hints that they were, in fact, still alive and kicking. That, and the fact that Locke couldn't think of anyone else capable of smashing Kefka once and for all.

But where were they now? Surely in their separate travels they would have crossed paths at least once, but they hadn't. And even so, that didn't guarantee that all of them were still alive. Any one of them could have perished in the destruction of the world or even that of Kefka's Tower. Strago, Gau, Celes...

Celes... As much as he'd tried to deny it even to himself, Locke loved her. That was one of the main reasons why he'd sworn to guard her with his life back in South Figaro when he'd saved her from imminent execution, now that he thought about it. Back then he couldn't make sense of what was happening inside of him, but now it was clear as crystal. Celes' presence in his life had caused his heart to slowly heal and grow fond of her.

That also explained the pain he'd felt deep inside at the Magitek Factory when Kefka and Cid had made it look like Celes was a spy for the Empire. After a while Locke had gotten over his doubts and tried to apologize to Celes, only to be given the cold shoulder. Only after the tragic death of General Leo had they both been able to make amends.

But all of that had gone to pot when Kefka had moved the statues on the Floating Island and rearranged the face of the planet. Celes was nowhere to be found, and with no way left to revive Rachel, there was nothing left for Locke to live for.

The wheel had come full circle. It was time he ended his misery and joined Rachel on the Other Side. And this time, there was no one to stop him. No Edgar "Idiot King" Figaro posting guards to keep an eye on him, no meddling villagers, no one...

Celes watched Locke with great concern from behind a nearby large rock, not wanting to spook him. Before Kefka's reign of chaos had begun, he had been so full of life in spite of his tragic past. Now he was on his knees, head in his hands looking haggard and empty. She wanted to run up to his side and hug him, ask him what was wrong, although she had a feeling she already knew...

She was about to abandon her hiding place when Locke suddenly rose to his feet. This startled Celes because she thought that he'd sensed her presence, but he merely backed up a few feet, muttered something she couldn't hear, then ran to the edge of the cliff and leapt off of it.

"Locke, no!" she cried, racing toward the edge. A few seconds later she heard a loud splash; the suicidal treasure hunter had hit the water. With no other choice left, Celes dove in after him, taking a deep breath just before she went under.

The sun had almost finished setting, so she swam around frantically, trying to find Locke while she could still see where she was going. Her lungs began to ache from lack of fresh air. '_Where ARE you!_' she thought, then finally spotted Locke slowly sinking toward the bottom. She quickly swam downward, grabbed him, and scrambled for the surface.

When Celes breached the surface at last, she gasped, taking in a big lungful of air. Without delay, she towed Locke to the now moonlit shore, out of the water, and laid him down on his back in the sand. Unsure of how much water he might have taken in, she knelt down next to him, turned his head to one side, and pressed down on his chest repeatedly, trying to bring it up.

After a minute or so of this, Locke coughed and sputtered, seawater dripping out of his mouth. '_Not again..._' Once more he'd been denied the sweet release of death when it was mere inches from his grasp. '_Whoever fished me out... better have a damned good reason..._' Panting from air loss, he slowly opened his bloodshot blue-gray eyes and met Celes' worried gaze. "Celes... how... why...?"

"Because you would have done the same for me. Back when I went looking for everyone so we could destroy Kefka, I found them all, but there was still someone missing: you. It just wasn't the same. I don't want to lose you again..." Locke saw nothing but sincerity and concern in her jade-colored eyes and smiled weakly up at her. "What on Gaia happened to you?"

"When I first woke up, for all I knew you and everyone else were all dead..." He stuck his right hand into his jacket pocket, pulled out a soaking wet pouch, and laid it down beside him before fishing out a small handful of shards. "The only thing that kept me going was the possibility of finding this, the Phoenix magicite. According to legend, it held the same power the Phoenix used to rise from the ashes. I had hoped to use it to bring back Rachel, but by the time I found it, I was too late. Magic was gone, and with it my last reason to live..."

Locke replaced the shards and cast the pouch aside. His eyes then caught something and traveled to the item tied around Celes' neck: one of his bandanas. He wondered how she had aquired it, having no recollection of ever giving it to her. "Where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to the bandana.

Celes told him of how she'd woken up a year after the crash of the Blackjack with only Cid at her side, and how she too had thought that she was the only survivor. Then, in a more saddened tone, she spoke of Cid's death and her own similar attempt at suicide by sea cliff, after which she had encountered the bird wearing the bandana.

"Knowing you were still alive somewhere was enough to give me hope, and a feeling that the others had to be out there as well," she explained, and Locke nodded, sympathizing with her over the loss. He hadn't seen her be this emotional over anything since the day Kefka had murdered Leo in cold blood.

'_This makes it the second time a woman I loved willingly sacrificed herself for my sake... But this time around she survived without injury..._' Locke thought to himself. '_Maybe somebody up there's trying to tell me it's time to move on..._' He needed a steady influence in his life, a reason to live, and he had found her. Or rather, _she_ had found _him_ in this particular case. It would take some time, but Locke now believed that Celes was the only one capable of mending his tattered and tortured soul.

"Celes... there's something I've been meaning to tell you... something I've tried to deny even to myself because I didn't understand it at first, but now I do..."

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Oh Locke, I love you too! I missed you so much, I-" Before Celes could say anything else, Locke pulled her soaking wet body close to his own and kissed her passionately on the lips. She blinked for a second but quickly returned the kiss, it being the first one they had ever shared.

When they broke for air, Locke sighed in both contentment and relief, feeling as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. It had been a long time - too long - since he had last shared this kind of moment with a woman, and he'd almost forgotten how wonderful it felt. On top of that, there was an undeniable feeling of rightness and bliss.

Not wanting the moment to end, Locke wrapped his arms around Celes protectively, and she wrapped her own around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder.

He smiled and ran his fingers through her damp golden hair. "Thank you, Celes. You've given me a reason to live and love again. I want - no - need you by my side, always..."

Celes smiled back at him and nuzzled his chest. "Always and forever, my love."

(1)Quote from the ending that inspired this fic.

(2)This and related bits refer to events in Chapter 1 of "After the Fall," which desperately needs revising but is on permanent hiatus.


End file.
